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Dear
Friends,
The RENOVARÉ
practical strategy for spiritual growth involves
a “Covenant” to give us focus, “Common Disciplines”
to help us live out the life of the Covenant,
and “Questions of Examen” to encourage us to evaluate
how we are doing from week-to-week.
With
this pastoral letter I am providing each of us
the means to affirm and re-affirm our commitment
to the RENOVARÉ
Covenant. You will find a “Service of Commitment”
inserted. This is the first of what I hope will
be an annual commitment experience. If you are
alone, I urge you to experience this service by
yourself with only small adaptations. If you are
part of a Spiritual Formation group, I hope you
will use this service for one of your weekly meetings.
It can even be used by larger gatherings of like-minded
folk. I suggest you have this “Service of Commitment”
sometime during the Advent Season (starting the
4th Sunday before Christmas Day which is the beginning
of the Church year) or on New Year’s eve or day
(which is the beginning of the calendar year).
Some of you have never made a commitment to the
RENOVARÉ
Covenant and so this will be your first opportunity
to do so. Others have been a part of our Covenant
Family for a long time and so this becomes your
opportunity to re-affirm these Covenant vows.
In this letter I want to provide some of the theological
and biblical underpinnings for our Covenant and
explain why it is vital for you and me to make
such a commitment.
THE
PURPOSE OF THE COVENANT
The RENOVARÉ
Covenant is deceptively simple, captured as it
is in one sentence: “In utter dependence upon
Jesus Christ as my ever-living Savior, Teacher,
Lord, and Friend I will seek continual renewal
through spiritual exercises, spiritual gifts,
and acts of service.” The simplicity is intentional,
but it is far from simplistic: an awful lot is
packed into that single sentence. I shall get
to that presently.
First,
let me explain the purpose of the Covenant. Its
purpose, very simply, is to give us focus. It
is a brief, clear declaration of what we are seeking
in our growth in grace. It is a kind of short-hand,
if you will. Just as the Apostles’ Creed is a
short-hand for Christian belief, so the RENOVARÉ
Covenant is a short-hand for Christian practice.
It becomes a constant reminder to us of our goal
and the means for accomplishing this goal.
We
need just such a reminder. It is exceedingly easy
for us to get caught up in the press of life and
forget what life is all about in the first place.
So the Covenant calls us back to our first love,
and reminds us that what we get out of life is
the kind of person we become. A loving, persistent,
insistent reminder of spiritual realities—that
is the purpose of the RENOVARÉ
Covenant!
HIGHLY
CHRISTOCENTRIC
Now,
to the Covenant itself. The very first thing we
notice is how highly Christocentric it is. The
opening phrase, even before we get to the verb,
focuses upon Christ and our complete dependence
upon him, “In utter dependence upon Jesus Christ
. . . .” This is intentional. You see, this is
no religion of the lowest common denominator.
No, indeed! Jesus Christ is at the very center
of our faith. This is a non-negotiable for us.
Then
note the emphasis upon Jesus’ resurrection, “In
utter dependence upon Jesus Christ as my ever-living
. . . .” Again, this is simply a non-negotiable.
It makes an enormous difference that Jesus Christ
rose from the grave, conquering sin and death
and hell. It makes an enormous difference that
Jesus Christ is alive and working in our world
today. In fact, it makes all the difference in
the world. As the Apostle Paul puts it, “If Christ
has not been raised, your faith is futile and
you are still in your sins” (1 Cor. 15:17).
Next
note the Covenant’s emphasis upon Christ among
us in all his offices.
•
He is our Savior to forgive us.
•
He
is our Teacher to instruct us.
•
He
is our Lord to rule us.
•
He
is our Friend to come alongside us.
In
dogmatic theology the offices of Christ are described
as Prophet, Priest, and King, and an immense history
and content stand behind those words. And we are
giving expression to these great truths by confessing
Christ as Savior, Teacher, Lord, and Friend.
When
we speak of the offices of Christ we are recognizing
that Jesus actually functions among his people.
He does things. Now. It is not just that Jesus
did great works in the past, especially the unrepeatable
work of redemption on the cross. It is also that
he is working in the present—forgiving, teaching,
directing, comforting, empowering. And he will
be working in the future, especially in his return
in majesty and power and his everlasting reign
in glory.
This
is the glorious reality we confess in the Covenant.
Jesus Christ is alive. He is here to teach his
people himself. His voice is not hard to hear.
His vocabulary is not difficult to understand.
He is the good shepherd and his sheep do hear
his voice.
So
Christ is among us functioning as the Lord of
his people. He guides his people. He corrects
his people. He forgives his people. He instructs
his people. He oversees his people. He empowers
his people. And so much more. All this we confess
in the RENOVARÉ
Covenant.
THE
MOMENT OF SACRED COMMITMENT
Then, and only then, comes the verb, “I will seek
. . . .” This is a daring declaration of our intention.
It brings us to the point of decision. It asks
in no uncertain terms, “Am I prepared to accept
Christ as my Life? Will I say ‘yes’ to him in
all things?” And so we come to the moment of sacred
commitment. It is up to us to choose Christ. No
one else can make this choice for us. We are the
only one that can make it.
And
did you notice the teeth in this commitment? This
is a commitment to “seek continual renewal . .
. .” The background to these words here is the
biblical call for us to offer ourselves to God
as a “living sacrifice” (Rom. 12:1). Now, a “living”
sacrifice takes a lifetime to be offered. And
note: a “dead” sacrifice is never going to get
off the altar; this exact temptation is ever-present
for a “living” sacrifice. So our offering of ourselves
is a continual one. Our commitment, you see, is
for “continual renewal.”
THE
MEANS OF GRACE
Now, this renewal work is not
done in a vacuum. We are not seeking continual
renewal in the abstract. Oh, no. There is a way
in, and that way involves . . .
•
Spiritual
exercises,
•
Spiritual
gifts, and
•
Acts
of service.
When
we speak of “spiritual exercises” we are tapping
into the great biblical and historical tradition
of the classical Disciplines of the spiritual
life. These Disciplines are the main way we are
enabled to train in the spiritual life. Remember
Paul’s words to Timothy, “Train yourself in godliness”
(1 Tim. 4:7). It is by means of the Spiritual
Disciplines that we bring our body, our mind,
our spirit . . . all that we are, and place all
that we are before God as a “living sacrifice.”
Disciplines like meditation and prayer and fasting
and study and simplicity and solitude and service
and frugality and confession and guidance and
worship and celebration. And more. Frankly, I
have no exhaustive list of the Spiritual Disciplines,
and, as far as I know, none exist. We are simply
learning ways of placing ourselves before God
so that he can work the righteousness of the kingdom
into us.
But
not just spiritual exercises; we also seek continual
renewal through “spiritual gifts.” The charisms
or gifts of the Spirit are meant for our growth,
for our encouragement, for our good. There are
gifts of wisdom and knowledge and faith and healing
and discernment of spirits and tongues and the
interpretation of tongues. There are gifts of
administration, indeed one of the spiritual gifts
is administration, but there are also spiritual
charisms of apostle, prophet, teacher, pastor.
There are gifts of exhortation and giving and
helps. And more.
Paul,
that wise, pastoral Apostle, states with crystal
clarity that the purpose of the gifts of the Spirit
are, “to equip the saints for the work of ministry,
for building up the body of Christ, until all
of us come to the unity of the faith and the knowledge
of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure
of the full stature of Christ” (Eph. 4:12-13).
The
most extensive discussion of the spiritual gifts
in all the Bible is given in 1 Corinthians, chapters
12-14, and note that right at the heart of that
discussion is what we call “the love chapter,”
1 Corinthians 13. Love, the maturing, nurturing
fruit of the Spirit, is absolutely central to
the right functioning of the gifts of the Spirit.
Then
there are “acts of service.” This means initially
simple, trifling tasks of daily life through which
we help and encourage one another; taking out
trash, washing dishes, folding laundry. And so
much more. There is the service of common courtesy
and of guarding the reputation of others and of
hospitality. Even listening to another person
can be an act of service. Perhaps most important
of all is the service of bearing the burdens of
each other.
You
might wonder why something so ordinary as acts
of service would be placed alongside things like
spiritual exercises and spiritual gifts. The answer
is profoundly simple: any vital life with God
will, by its very nature, express itself in loving
human relationships, and how better to express
this than through acts of service. Service takes
us beyond ourselves, constantly teaching us to
value other human beings . . . all kinds of human
beings. It is a means of grace for the transforming
of our heart, our spirit, our mind, our affections.
THEREFORE
This
then is a brief overview of the RENOVARÉ
Covenant and its importance to our ongoing life
of discipleship. I hope that during this Advent
season or on New Year’s Day you will affirm
and re-affirm
this commitment to follow Jesus Christ in all
things and in all ways. And may God bless you
as you do so, whether individually or in a group
setting. Remember, even when alone, we are together
in our Covenant commitment and together always
in the glorious fellowship of the Trinity—Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit.
Peace
and joy,
Richard J. Foster
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